Graduation season is here and high school students will be maneuvering toward college or their careers. Most high school students will exit their 12 years of education without much, if any, knowledge of the ancient world, especially the militaries of the ancient world. There may be a simple method to bridge that educational gap.
Ways of the Game
Osprey Games has recently issued a new board game called “Battalion: War of the Ancients.” It enables two to four players to command the ancient armies of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, the Roman Republic, the Carthaginians, or the Han Dynasty. Choosing any military enables players to learn some of the methods of ancient warfare, the similar and dissimilar tactical maneuvers of these competing empires, as well as the type of units each possessed, such as cavalry, archers, and foot soldiers (and their empire-specific names).“Battalion” may be a simple method to introduce anyone to the world of ancient warfare, but the game is anything but simple. This isn’t like the “Battleship” game of my youth. It’s much more like “Risk,” but a bit more complex. There are a lot of combat options: 144 rank tiles identify specific military units, such as the Carthaginian Scutarii, the Greco-Bactrian Hoplites, or the Roman Hastati, 72 cards label specific maneuvers that units can make (some specific only to a particular military), and two to four camps are separated by sector markers used to illustrate small-scale or large-scale conflicts. And as with any actual military engagement, there are major risks and, in this case, the literal roll of the dice.
